Art of making playing-balls.



PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905.

I. H. RICHARDS.

ART OF MAKING PLAYING BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22, 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ART OF MAKING PLAYING-BALLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed April 22, 1905. Serial No. 256,92 5.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Farmers H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Making Playing-Balls, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of making playing-balls, and by practicing the method thereof a core for aplaying-ball peculiarly adapted for the game of golf will be produced, the said core when completed being composed of miscellaneous tense windings of a broad strip of highly-elastic material and having uniform tensity throughout.

In the making of golf-balls in which the core, constituting the larger portion of the ball, is formed of tense windings of highlyelastic rubber diiliculty arises in securing a sufficiently-tense and evenly-distributed winding on the inner portion of the core while using a strip wide enough to be satisfactory for the winding of the outer portion of the core.

By my present improvement in winding the core of the ball the strip of elastic material will be gradually increased in width, the increment in width being proportionate to that of the diameter of the core. By this method it will be possible to produce a uniform tension throughout the width of the band and to have the edges of the band of substantially the same tenseness as the center of the band. When a wide band is wound upon a sphere of small diameter, the elastic limit of the center portion of the band may be reached, while the edges of the band or strip have not been brought to such limit of elasticity nor to the degree of tenseness approaching that of the center portion. l/Vhen a ball is so wound up, the portions of the band not fully tensed will produce a ball softer in the center than it is upon the outer portion, where the tenseness of the band is substantially uniform throughout its width. By having the band so proportioned that uniformity of tension will exist throughout the width of the band at all portions a core is produced which will be of uniform density at all portions.

In accordance with the present improvement the objection above alluded to is overcome by first making the winding-strip of a tapering formation and then by beginning the winding of the ball by using the narrow end of the strip, the result being that as the winding progresses and the ball becomes larger and larger with each series of overlapping windings that portion of the strip which at a given time is being stretched taut and then directly wound onto the forming-core a wider portion of the strip is employed, and thus, as above noted, the central portion of the core is formed of the narrow portion of the strip, while the outer portion of the core is formed with the wider portion of the strip. In this way the progressive formation of the core by the windings is accomplished in a normal and proper manner and with the best results, and at the same time the winding operation is continuous from the beginning of the windings at the central part to the finished ball, and the operation is carried on without interruption or without requiring any releasing of the tension of the strip throughout the entire operation.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure l is an clevation of a golf-ball broken away in places and shown in section in other places to illustrate a form of ball made in accordance with my present improved method. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the first stage or an early stage in the winding of the core. Fig. 3 illustrates a subsequent stage and where a wider portion of the band or strip is entering into the core. Fig. 4 illustrates a stage in the further development of the winding of the core when a still wider portion of the strip is being laid down. Fig. 5 illustrates a form of a strip which may be used in the construction of the core, and Fig. 6 illustrates a different form of strip and also illustrates the manner in which astrip of substantially uniform width may be cut into strips for use in the construction of the present ball.

In winding a wide strip of material into a core for a ball it is found that at the first portion of the winding or the inner part, where the diameter of the core is comparatively small, the strip will not pack down well and that a strip as wide as is desirable for use in the ball cannot well be employed for the first winding, whereas if a strip is made suiiiciently narrow at the commencing end to readily wind up into the core and gradually increased in width as the diameter of the ball increases that superior results will be obtained. The thing to be done in the present instance is to make or produce a golf-ball core composed of windings in which the middle part of the core will have the same relative character as the outer portion of the ball, and in order to accomplish this highly useful and desirable result we begin as the first step to such result by the making of a strip of a tapering form.

The strip illustrated in Fig. 5 may be employed, which strip is designated in a general way by 7, and its end 8 is its narrowest portion, which portion may form a point and be employed to commence the winding of the ball. The windings may commence directlythat is, no center piece need be employed. A center piece may be employed, if desired, and when employed will preferably be small and may be made of wood, which is frequently used for a center piece to decrease the general specific gravity of the ball, so that it will float higher in water than would a ball made with a rubber core. The center piece of course will be made of some material capable of withstanding the high pressure brought upon it by the fact of the accumulation of tension when the strip is Wound under tension.

It will be seen that the portion 9 of the strip at the center of the ball is comparatively narrow and that as the strip advances to the regions or portions 10, 11, 1'2, and 13, respectively, it increases in width as the diameter of the ball increases. This is seen more clearly at the left-hand side of Fig. 1. The portion 12 of the strip is seen in perspective at the right-hand side of such figure, as is also the portion 13. For the purpose of comparison we may assume that in Fig. 2 the portion 11 of the strip is illustrated, in Fig. 3 the portion 12,'and in Fig. 4 the portion 13. The winding will be made under tension, and after the ball or core is completed it may be incased in some suitable cover 14, which cover, forming no inventive part of the present improvement, is illustrated merely to show the complete ball.

In Fig. 5 atapering strip is illustrated, which tapers uniformly from the portion 15 to the portion 8. These parts (marked 8 and 15, respectively) may or may not constitute the extreme ends of the strip, the same being merely illustrative and not for the purpose of limitation. By referring to Fig. 6 it will be seen that the strip 20 is wider at its end 22 than at its end 21 and that the increment in Width is produced by a number of steps 25, the connectinglines 26 between such steps being substantially parallel with the straight marsists in first producing a tapered strip of elastic material, then winding said strip into a core, with the narrower portion of said strip toward the center of the core, and then incasing such core in a shell or cover.

3. The art of producing golf-balls which consists in first making a rubber strip of tapered form from end to end thereof, then Winding said tapered strip into a core, and then incasing such core in a shell or cover.

4. The art of producing playing-balls which consists in first making an elastic strip of increasing Width step by step from one end thereof to the other, then tensely winding said elastic strip into a core, and then forming thereon a cover or shell.

5. The art of producing cores for playingballs, which consists in first forming a tapered strip of elastic material, and then winding said strip of elastic material under tension into a core, so that as the diameter of the core increases the width of the strip increases proportionately to the increase of the diameter of such core and so that substantially uniform tension between the edges and center of the strip is maintained throughout its entire length.

6. The art of producing cores for playingballs which consists in first providing an elastic strip of increasing width step by step from one part to another, and'then winding said strip under tension into a core, the width of the strip increasing proportionately as the diameter of the ball increases.

7. The art of producing cores for playingballs which consists in first making a continuous elastic strip of the same or substantially the same thickness throughout its length and of tapered formation throughout, and then winding said strip under tension, commencing with the narrower end, into a core, the width of the strip increasing as the diameter of the core increases and said strip being wound under the same or substantially the same tension throughout.

8. The art of producing playing-balls which consists in first making a continuous rubber strip of the same or substantially the same thickness throughout and tapered from end to end thereof, then winding said strip under tension, commencing with the narrower end, into a core, so that said strip will be wound under the same or substantially the same tension throughout and uniformly stretched up to or closely up to its elastic limit, and then incasing said core in a shell or cover.

9. A golf-ball made up of a core of tapered elastic material and a shell or cover, by first forming an elastic strip gradually tapered from end to end, and then winding it, commencing with the narrower end of said strip, under tension to form the core, and then in casing said core in a shell or cover.

10. A core for a playing-ball made of a sheet or strip of elastic material, cut tapering, and wound from the narrow point under high tension, increasing in force at the winding-point as the strip becomes Wider, whereby the core is made dense and solid without soft spots, yet mobile in the center, and is therefore adapted for use in making playingballs of the class specified.

11. A golf-ball comprising a core formed of a single elastic strip increasing in width step by step from one end to the other, so that adjacent to the center of such wound core the strip is comparatively narrow while at the periphery of such core it is comparatively wide, and a shell incasing the core.

12. A playing-ball comprising a core composed of a single strip of elastic material of tapering width wound under tension, the narrow end of the strip being at the center of and forming the center of the core, and a shell incasing said core.

13. A playing-ball comprising a core formed of a single continuous elastic strip tapered from end to end thereof and of the same or substantially the same thickness throughout so that when the strip is wound under tension, commencing with the narrower end, all parts of the strip will be stretched substantially uniformly and wound under the same or substantially the same tension, and a shell or cover incasing said core. 14. A playingball having a core made from a ribbon-like tapering strip of elastic material, wound under high tension, with the narrow end toward the center, the organization being such that the core is without soft spots at and adjacent to the center thereof.

Signed at Nos. 9 to 15 Murray street, New York, N. Y., this 21st day of April, 1905.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

CHAS. LYON RUSSELL, JOHN 0. Summer. 

